Former Virginia Politician Justin Fairfax Was Accused of Sexual Assault Before Death: What to Know

Former Virginia lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax faced sexual assault allegations before he and his estranged wife, Cerina Farifax, were found dead in an apparent murder-suicide.

“Former lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax shot and killed his wife inside their home, and then shot and killed himself,” Chief Kevin Davis said in a press conference on April 16. “This has been an ongoing domestic dispute surrounding what seems to be a complicated or messy divorce. So far what we know is what you know. There seems to be divorce proceedings that have been ongoing.”

Justin was the lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022. In 2019, multiple women accused the politician of sexual assault, which he denied.

Scroll down to learn more about Justin’s previous sexual assault allegations:

When Did the Alleged Incidents Occur?

Meredith Watson claimed Justin Fairfax raped her in 2000 when they were students at Duke University.

“He knew that the year prior that I had been raped by someone and that nothing was done about it. And he was a very good friend to me,” Watson said on CBS This Morning in 2019. “Which is why I never would’ve expected anything like this from him.”

When asked whether she ever tried to talk to Justin after he allegedly assaulted her, Watson replied, “I did.”

“One night after it happened … I was at a party on campus and he came and so I went to leave, like, I left. And he followed me out and was sort of following after me, calling after me,” Watson said. “And I was just running trying to get away and then I finally stopped and I turned around. And all I said to him was, ‘Why? Why would you do that to me?’ And he said, ‘I knew because of what happened to you last year that if I got you in the right situation, you would be too afraid to say or do anything about it.’”

Watson claimed that Justin “knew what he was gonna do that night when he asked [her] to come over.”

Another woman, Vanessa Tyson, accused Justin of forcing her to perform oral sex when they attended the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004.

When Was Justin Fairfax Accused of Sexual Assault?

The accusations were made in 2019. Virginia Democrats later called for Justin Fairfax to resign from his role.

“We believe that allegations of sexual assault must be taken with the utmost seriousness. Given the credible nature of the sexual assault claims against Lieutenant Governor Fairfax, it has become clear he can no longer fulfill the duties and responsibilities of his post,” a statement from Democratic Party of Virginia Chair Susan Swecker read at the time. “While the Lieutenant Governor deserves due process in this matter, it is in the best interest of the Commonwealth that he goes through this process as a private citizen.”

The statement concluded, “The Lieutenant Governor no longer has our confidence or support. He must resign.”

What Did Justin Fairfax Say About the Sexual Assault Allegations?

Justin Fairfax publicly denied the accusations and claimed that the encounters with the women were consensual, per NBC News.

“I empathize with those who have lived for a long time feeling hurt and pain. And, while the evidence will continue to demonstrate the truth that I never assaulted either Dr. Tyson or Ms. Watson, I am able to hear the pain they have expressed; a pain I hope they are able to resolve and heal from,” he noted, in part, in a 2019 statement to CBS This Morning. “However, because I never assaulted either Dr. Tyson or Ms. Watson, I know that my actions cannot be the source of that pain.”

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Fairfax also noted in his statement that he felt “so strongly regarding [his] innocence” that he “submitted [himself] to polygraph tests for each of the accusations against me.”

“I passed those tests because, as I have maintained from the very beginning, I did not assault either of my accusers,” he claimed.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.